Many businesses and other types of enterprises have a number of computers that are used by employees. These computers are often interconnected to form a computer network. One or more system administrators may be responsible for managing the enterprise's computers. A system administrator's responsibilities typically include deploying and configuring new hardware and software, assigning user accounts and passwords, establishing security access levels, performing backups, troubleshooting reported problems, and so forth. In larger enterprises, some of these tasks may be divided between different system administrators. A computer system that is used by a system administrator is commonly referred to as an administrative system. The computers (or other electronic devices) that a system administrator manages may be referred to as managed nodes.
System administrators may use systems management software to perform various management-related tasks. There are a variety of systems management software products that are commercially available. An example of systems management software that is used by various enterprises is the LANDesk® Management Suite.
One of the challenges that a system administrator faces when deploying software is making sure that it is compatible with the managed nodes in the enterprise. Software that might function properly with one hardware/software configuration might not function properly with another hardware/software configuration. The task of verifying software compatibility may be quite difficult since there may be a wide variety of hardware/software configurations within the same enterprise. For example, an enterprise may include different types of computing devices, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, and other handheld devices (such as PDAs, cell phones, etc.). In addition, computers within the same enterprise may be running different versions of the same operating system, or even different operating systems. For example, some computers within an enterprise may be running Microsoft Windows XP®, while other computers may be running Microsoft Windows 2000®, a version of a Macintosh® operating system, a UNIX®-based operating system, etc.
One known approach to verifying software compatibility involves the use of test labs. Test labs, however, typically fail to adequately simulate the variety of systems found in the enterprise. Accordingly, even if no problems are detected when a particular piece of software is tested by a test lab, problems may occur when the software is deployed to the managed nodes within an enterprise.
System administrators are under a tremendous amount of pressure to perform their duties in an efficient and productive manner. Accordingly, benefits may be realized by improved systems and methods for verifying the compatibility of software with the managed nodes in an enterprise.